Layton says Duceppe, Harper, driving wedges over separatism

QUEBEC – NDP Leader Jack Layton says two of his opponents are fuelling discord with talk of Quebec separatism.

Parti Quebecois Leader Bloc Quebecois leader Pauline Marois won a strong confidence vote from her party’s weekend convention and that had Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe talking about another vote on separation.

Duceppe said a PQ provincial government and a strong Bloc contingent in the Commons would reset the referendum debate.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he needs a Tory majority to fight this.

Layton says this divisive approach is wrong.

“I think it is time for us to be pulling together, not drive wedges and what we’re seeing Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Harper do is drive wedges in the middle of an election campaign,” he said. “This really isn’t going to help us build the kind of country that we want. It’s the same old, same old, it’s another example of how Ottawa is broken, in my view.”

He urged Duceppe and Harper to back off:

“I say to these other leaders, let’s not use an election to try to whip up division between Canadians and between Canadians and Quebecers. Let’s use an election to talk about solutions about how we can come together.
That’s my approach.”

Layton has been buoyed by recent polls showing Quebec warming to him in the wake of the leaders’ debates.

He said Quebecers are taking the NDP seriously.

“They are seeking an alternative and they are turning to us,” he said.

He told a group in Quebec City that the NDP would back a long-sought high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Windsor.

He also said an NDP government would devote resources to help cities build green infrastructure, affordable housing and upgrade water treatment plants. It would also put money into urban transit.

In the last Parliament, the NDP’s deputy leader Thomas Mulcair held the party’s only seat in Quebec.